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This chapter addresses the balancing act between curriculum guidance and curriculum space, against the backdrop of an integral curriculum review at the national/macro level in the Netherlands, labelled ‘Curriculum.nu’. As part of this review initiative, many choices have to be made, reflecting answers to the following two questions: What balance is needed between curriculum regulation at the macro level and the provision of curricular space for schools at the meso and the micro level? And, what are the related responsibilities of all involved in the educational system web in order to make the curriculum change successful? Before getting to tentative answers, the chapter will provide an introduction to curriculum policy in the Netherlands and will offer an overview of the motives, aims, approaches and preliminary results of Curriculum.nu. The provisional answers include a set of research-informed principles for making the curriculum review efforts a success, including a call for dovetailing the various curriculum layers and for a strategic curriculum mix of room for school-specific decision-making, substantive guidance, support by exemplification and firm investments in professional development.

The aim of this paper is to describe the research and process used to develop a curriculum design guidance model that can be used to develop a sustainability literate construction curriculum in higher education.

A comparative study between the UK and Australia was undertaken. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected in both countries and then analysed to determine what was needed to develop an appropriate model for curriculum design within construction education. Various areas regarding curriculum assessment were considered in order to provide an insightful and comprehensive model for curriculum design.

The results indicated that the UK and Australia do not differ significantly with regards to best practice in curriculum design.

The subsequent model can be used by academics to integrate more opportunities for sustainable literacy into construction courses. The proposed model has the potential to be used interchangeably within both countries and possibly beyond.

The paper addresses the need for academia to assess the level of environmental knowledge that they disseminate to students as an integrated part of their overall degree rather than at a modular level.

Much has been written about the theory and practice of work experience, but mostly in academic terms and aimed specifically at the “world of education”. What follows is presented in practical terms, and is intended to be of help to industrial colleagues. It has been written by an experienced practitioner who has worked at both the chalk‐face and Local Education Authority (LEA) level providing work experience for thousands of students. Basically, work experience is examined briefly in terms of its origins in the 1960s. The mechanics of its delivery are looked at and an indication of the current picture and the anticipated future expectations is given: a practical approach therefore to a very important curricular development area.

Considers the future of health education in relation to schools; explores the continuing need for health education of young people and hence the priorities for schools; and addresses the current dilemmas, uncertainties and opportunities that affect the provision of health education in schools. Relates principally to health education in schools in England. Reviews the impact of recent Education Acts on the provision of health education in schools and examines how the new system of inspection of schools could and should work in relation to health education. Summarizes the early work on the health‐promoting schools project.

Reports on work involved in updating a document which identified links between the Health of the Nation targets and the National Curriculum. Describes the consultation which took place to update the original and the format of the revised document. The dissemination of the updated version was well received. Concludes that the document may help to inform any forthcoming revision of the National Curriculum, in which personal, social and health education may become more explicit.

The purpose of the paper is to consider the opportunities and difficulties in developing health‐promotion work in early years settings in the UK.

As the first study of its kind conducted in the UK, a multi‐method approach was adopted involving: an overview of health‐related guidance and of effective interventions in early years settings to promote health among young children; 26 interviews with key informants in the early years and health fields, regional coordinators for the National Healthy Schools Programme (NHSP) and Foundation Stage regional advisers; a survey of 145 local Healthy Schools Programme coordinators with a response rate of 75 per cent; and six case studies of early years settings representing promising practice in the promotion of health and wellbeing.

There is considerable enthusiasm for health promotion work within early years organisations, and interest in developing such work in early years settings. The study suggests that building on existing early years curriculum frameworks, developing partnerships between health and early years professionals, engaging both parents and practitioners, and adequate national and local resourcing will facilitate development of health promoting work in the early years sector.

This paper and the outputs from the study offer useful evidence for health and early years professionals who are developing health‐promoting work in early years settings.

The paper reports on the first study of its kind in which the perceptions of both early years and health professionals are brought together to consider the issues involved in developing healthy early years practice.

This paper explores the challenges, issues and benefits of reflective practice faced by work-based practitioners undertaking negotiated experiential learning. The study focuses upon the case of a ground-breaking UK-based Senior Leader Master's Degree Apprenticeship (SLMDA) programme which requires learners to develop and apply reflective practice skills through comprehensive work-based learning and research activities. Degree apprenticeships represent a significant opportunity for providers and employers to become more closely aligned in the joint development and promotion of innovative learning opportunities, yet the efficacy of individually negotiated, experiential learning and reflective practice for senior leaders within a challenging healthcare environment remains relatively unexplored from a tripartite perspective. This paper investigates the role of reflective practice within a leading degree apprenticeship programme which embraces this pedagogic approach and considers the potential barriers and benefits for learners and their organisations.

The paper begins by discussing the nature of reflective practice in the workplace and explores the growing importance of this activity in contemporary organisations. Theoretical and conceptual foundations relating to experiential learning and reflective practice are analysed and discussed. The SLMDA programme and NHS case organisation are described in detail. Qualitative data drawn from semi-structured interviews undertaken with learners, employers and personal academic tutors (PATs) are then analysed to identify the key issues and challenges encountered.

The study identifies the benefits of reflective practice, explores the challenges and issues that act as barriers to reflective practice and highlights the importance of the role of the personal academic tutor (PAT) and that of employers in supporting and developing reflective practice in one of the first SLMDA programmes to launch within the UK.

Although reflective practice and work-based research have attracted considerable scholarly activity, investigations have overwhelmingly been focused upon professions such as teaching and nursing and have explored challenges and issues from the perspective of the provider. This study explores reflective practice from the viewpoint of learners, employers and PATs and thereby seeks to complement and expand current understanding by developing a more holistic approach. This work will inform future programme design, practitioner skills development and employer support procedures as learners plan and prepare to facilitate work-based research projects within their organisations.

Recent advice suggests that single‐level, single‐strand interventions are less effective in preventing or reducing harm from drug misuse than multi‐level multi‐agency approaches. Part 1 described one aspect of a community focused initiative in drug education. The overall aim of the initiative was to support and train key adults within the community to implement locally relevant schemes of work and drug‐related policies. In the previous paper, we described the training offered to parents, school staff and governors in communities in Essex. This second paper reviews both the guidelines for effective teaching and learning in drug education and the importance of effective teacher education. We describe an action research approach to in‐service training for health education coordinators which led to the development of a minimum entitlement curriculum for three different communities within the same county. We offer this combination of research, training and development as a new approach to drug education.

Education and industry links are well established in schools and the benefits of an industrial dimension within the curriculum are widely acknowledged. However, high quality and sustainable work which also provides continuity and progression of experience for pupils as they move through primary and into secondary schools is more difficult to achieve. Additionally, student teachers in training do not necessarily have the opportunity to develop an understanding of the importance of working with industry and the local community nor do they have the chance to develop the skills and attitudes necessary for successful practice in this area. Reports a project which involved science student teachers as the professional links between a large industrial company and a family of schools. Describes how they supported the class teachers in developing industrial themes within the curriculum of each of the participating schools and across the age range 5‐18 years. In so doing the student teachers benefit from the experience by building up their own expertise and taking it with them into their future teaching careers.

Describes an event organized by the Health Education Authority′s Best of Health project team, which took place at Crewe+Alsager Faculty of the Manchester Metropolitan University in spring 1994. The Best of Health project aims to raise awareness, in primary school teachers and those training to be teachers, of the opportunities for providing health education in schools. Summarizes the events of the day, explains how staff at the college prepared students to get the most out of the day, and how education staff planned follow‐up work on cross‐curricular ways of teaching health education.